


Moonlight Sonata

by bookworm2017



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anxiety, Blood, Bullying, Depression, Kissing, M/M, Minor Character Death, it's a lot more lighthearted than it looks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-07-07 04:30:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15900933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm2017/pseuds/bookworm2017
Summary: Patton might be a prince of the Atlantic, but he's not like his older brother, Roman. He's not the heir to the throne or a great leader or talented. Then Patton meets Virgil, a human who makes him feel like he's something more than just a prince, than just a tool for his abilities. It's not long after that Patton starts to notice some changes, both in his feelings, his abilities, and Virgil himself. But something's happening in the seven kingdoms, something big. Mermaids are going missing, and the most powerful kingdom has gone silent. Rulers start blaming each other, the threat of war becoming more real by the passing day. When things start to spread into the human world, Patton and Virgil are left with a choice, one that could aid the Atlantic or make the tensions even worse, tearing them apart in the process.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer! Deceit will be featured in this as an antagonist, so if that's not something you prefer to read, maybe this isn't for you. 
> 
> So this is something I've been working on for literally months and I finally get to share it! I'm so excited for you guys to read this, I really love it, so I hope you do too!   
> Also posted to my tumblr: @sanders-specs

The last thing that Virgil wanted to do with his summer was pack. He’d had all of these plans with his friends that would get them through the entire summer, but then his parents had to go and ruin it all with the announcement that they were moving. To a place that was very much not where Virgil grew up and very much not where he preferred to be. It seemed that he didn’t get much of a say in the matter, though. By the time they told him and his little sister Abby, they’d already sold the house.

Granted, Virgil probably should’ve seen it coming. All the extra stress his parents seemed to have been under should’ve been a sign, but he figured that was just their jobs. It wouldn’t have been the first time. 

Then there was the cleaning. His parents had made them spend an entire week cleaning the house from top to bottom. At the time, he thought they’d just finally decided that their house needed a good cleaning. Again, it wouldn’t have been the first time.

Abby had been ecstatic about the news. She was excited to go to a new place, and she didn’t seem to mind the fact that she was leaving all of her friends.  
“They’re boring sometimes,” she told Virgil when he asked her about it. “Besides, Jessica always tries to steal my Friday brownies so now I won’t have to worry about it anymore!” She’d then gone back to humming to herself as she packed up her coloring books.

Oh, to be six again. When your biggest worries are whether or not you get your Friday brownie.

Meanwhile Virgil tried everything he could to convince his parents that this was a bad idea, but to no avail. They’d already sold the house. They’d even already gotten jobs in their new town. Clearly, they’d waited until the last possible second to tell Virgil and Abby. They probably knew that Virgil was going to react this way and they didn’t want to give him a chance to change their minds.

Despite his efforts, the day of the move came. A truck had already left the day before to take most of their things, so the family had slept in the empty house in sleeping bags, having eaten take out Chinese for dinner. Abby went on and on about how she couldn’t wait for all of the adventures she was going to have at the new house and all the new friends she was going to make at her new school. His father talked about all the new cuisine he was going to master. Virgil just rolled over and ignored them, not wanting to even think about living anywhere but his home.

He’d felt a touch on his arm. “I know this isn’t ideal for you sweetheart,” his mother had whispered to him, his sister and father still talking on the other side of the room. “I know this change is big for you, but it’s what we all need right now. A fresh start.”

“I’m happy with where we are,” Virgil mumbled.

His mother had sighed and kissed his cheek. “No, you’re not,” she said. “None of us are.”

He hated when she was right, but that didn’t mean he was going to acknowledge it. He just buried his head in his pillow. She squeezed his shoulder. “You’ll see,” she said. “This new place is going to be good for us.”

Virgil didn’t respond, and she left him alone after that. He doubted that this move was going to be “good” but there was nothing he could do about it at this point. So he just closed his eyes and hoped that tomorrow would never come.

 

“Wow!” Abby exclaimed, straining against her seatbelt to get a look at the houses around them. They were in a neighborhood that was, literally, right by the beach. Virgil could see snippets of the ocean as they passed by the houses. Many of them had stone walls between them, but the distant sparkle of the ocean peaked out over them. “Look at all the houses! And palm trees! We never had palm trees at our old house, Virgil.”

Virgil didn’t say anything, but that didn’t keep Abby from continuing to gawk at the houses.

It had been a rather long car ride. Most of the time Virgil spent with his headphones on and listening to music to distract him. Or at least, he’d tried to. Abby seemed to make it her mission to annoy him as much as possible and try to see how many times she could get him to take his headphones off. Eventually he’d just ignored her, which had resulted in her huffing and refusing to acknowledge him for a good two hours. This, of course, meant that it was Virgil’s turn to annoy her.

Now, though, they were both silent as their father pulled into the driveway of a rectangular white house. Virgil slowly got out of the car as Abby started running around, giggling, and his parents walked to the back of the car to get their bags. The house was a two-story, with a front porch and a set of stairs the led up to the door, and a concrete wall between the house and the two houses on either side of it.

“Virgil, honey, will you come help with the bags?”

Turning away from the house, Virgil went to help his parents.

 

Patton giggled as he chased the pod of dolphins, doing loops and really letting his tail stretch. He watched from below as the dolphins surfaced slightly for air and sometimes even jumped out of the water. Amazing creatures, dolphins. They were smarter than any mermaid Patton new, yet just as playful. This pod in particular always liked to play games with him.

One of the babies swam towards him, circled around him once, then took off towards the adult dolphins which made Patton smile. He’d been hanging around this pod for a while now, and he loved the fact that they trusted him enough at this point to be around their babies. It had nothing to do with him being a Prince of the Atlantic either. Really, he felt that their mothers were just relieved that all Patton ever wanted to do was play.

Suddenly, all of the dolphins parted and swam in different directions. Patton frowned and slowed, turning back around to look for what had caused the disturbance. A human boat, maybe, or a shark or…

“Patton! There you are!”

Patton’s brother.

Sighing, Patton stopped swimming all together and straightened as he watched with longing as the dolphins swam away. He spotted Roman immediately, his brother coming towards him at top speed. He slowed once he neared Patton, a frown on his face.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“Well, you found me,” Patton said, opening his arms and giving Roman a smile.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Yes, and much too far away from the palace. You know how Father is.”

“I know, I know, and I didn’t mean to come out this far!” Patton promised. “Swimming with the dolphins is just so much fun! No wonder the humans like to do it so often.”

Roman got the same look on his face every time Patton started talking about humans. His mouth got tight and his eyes narrowed, like just by saying the word it was going to summon one of them. “Pat, you know that we can’t—”

“Yes, Roman I know,” Patton said, shaking his head.

Roman crossed his arms at Patton’s dismissive tone. “Then why are you so close to the shore?”

Blinking, Patton looked around. Sure enough, there was a slope nearby and waves crashing onto the shore. It was far enough that no human would see them, but the fact that the shore was in sight at all was enough to make Roman worried, Patton knew.

“Huh,” Patton said. “I didn’t realize how close we were.”

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do pay closer attention to your surroundings. You’re a prince, Pat, you know that we can’t have you in danger.”  
“Ah, but I’m not the heir,” Patton said, swimming around his brother and tapping his nose, which only made him scowl more. “So technically, I’m not as much of a liability.”

Roman’s shoulders slumped, and he got a sad look. “Don’t say that. You know How crushed Mother and Father would be if anything happened to you.”  
Patton stopped swimming and let his own face soften. “I know,” he said, taking Roman’s hand. “I was just joking. I really didn’t notice how close I was to the shore. The pod just had their babies, so I was distracted.”

A small smile appeared on Roman’s lips and his shook his head. “You and the little ones, I swear.”

Patton grinned and poked Roman’s chest. “And you would’ve gotten to see them too if you hadn’t scared them off.”

“I like to think that they parted to let me through. I am their prince after all,” Roman said, straightening his shell necklace that marked him as such.

“Yeah,” Patton laughed, “as if the dolphins have ever cared.”

Roman glared at him for that and pushed him away. “Come on, we should go.”

“Wait!” Patton said. He gave his brother a sweet smile and bashes his eye lashes. “While we’re here…”

“You know we already have people who come to check on the humans,” Roman said.

“Yeah but we’re here anyway,” Patton said. “Might as well, right?”

Roman grumbled, which Patton took as a yes. “Let’s go!” He started off towards the cluster of rocks that offered a good cover from the human houses. From there, they could see a good portion of the land. This was the sector that Patton was actually assigned to (or rather, the sector that Patton was in charge of making someone else in charge of, but Patton liked to think that he had the ability to come here whenever he pleased because of it), so he knew exactly where to go.

The beach seemed rather empty when they surfaced. Patton supposed that this being a mostly…what was the word? Privet? Something like that. It was an area where humans lived permanently instead of just visiting. The beach was never as crowded as it was in Roman’s sector, which had huge looming buildings in the distance. Patton liked these smaller, more comfy looking buildings a lot better.

“Okay, it looks fine, let’s—” Roman started, but stopped, his eyes locking onto something. Patton followed his gaze and lifted himself up a little bit more. There was a boy coming out of one of the houses, a house that Patton knew had been empty for quite some time now and sat just diagonal from the rocks Patton and Roman were hiding behind. Patton inches closer to get a better look at the boy, but Roman held him back. “Careful,” Roman whispered.

For a moment, the boy just stood behind his house, staring at the ocean. Patton couldn’t quite see what his face looked like, but his shoulders seemed tense and Patton got a sense that he was not happy at all.

The door to the house opened behind him and Roman pulled Patton even further behind the rock.

A smaller human came running out, and she stopped just on the edge of the beach.

“Look Virgil!” She exclaimed with utter delight in her voice. “The ocean! We can go to the beach whenever we want now!”

The boy didn’t respond at first. He just walked down to join the little girl and ruffles her hair. She giggled and shoved him, which didn’t look like it did much.  
“Virgil! Abby! Oh, there you are,” a woman said, poking her head out of the door. “The movers, your dad, and I are going to get all the big stuff settled in. Virgil can you watch Abby until we’re done?”

“Yeah, sure,” Virgil called back. “How long is this going to take?”

“An hour, maybe two,” the woman said. “Take a walk, go for a swim, explore around! It’s a new place, get to know it. Go on an adventure.”

The little girl—Abby—gasped. “Adventure! Adventure adventure adventure adventure!” she ran around Virgil, who looked back at his mother with what Patton could only assume was a glare. She smiled and waved before shutting the door.

“Come on Virgil, let’s go!” Abby said, tugging on Virgil’s hand.

“Nope,” Virgil said, pulling Abby back. “Not before we get shoes.”

Abby groaned. “But it’s the beach. You’re not supposed to wear shoes.”

“Maybe if you want to burn your feet off,” Virgil said. “Or get pinched by a hermit crab or bit by a snake—”

“Snakes don’t live on the beach silly!” Abby said, though there was small uncertainty in her voice.

“How do you know that?” Virgil asked. Then he lowered his voice slightly and started lowering himself. “Maybe there are snakes that live deep in the sand and only emerge to take a bite out of little girl’s bare feet because she refused to put shoes on.” His voice grew louder and louder and on the last word he scooped up Abby, who let out a delighted yet slightly fearful screech.

With that, Virgil walked back inside, Abby squirming over his shoulder.

Once the two humans were inside, Roman pulled Patton fully behind the rock. “Come on, we should go.”

Patton shook his head. He had yet learned how to talk above the surface. That was something that his tutor was putting off showing him, likely at his father’s request. Apparently, it took a while to master anyway.

Both of them ducked under water. “We should stay and watch them,” Patton said. “Like Father always says, we have to know how the humans work so we know if they’re a threat. We should stay.”

“Patton, there are mermaids who are specifically for that job. Mermaids who can disguise themselves. We,” Roman motioned frantically between them, “are neither one of those mermaids.”

For a moment, Patton considered his light blue tale and Roman’s red one. Sure, Patton would blend in a little easier and Roman would stick out but… “We don’t know when or if they’re going to be out again,” Patton said, determined not to let this go. “Going all the way back home and summoning one of them would just be a waste of time.” Patton nudged him. “It’ll be like when we were kids…”

His brother hesitated a moment. When they were little, Patton and Roman would make secret visits to this very spot to play and spy on humans. That was, until they were caught and given a stern lecture from their father. It had successfully frightened Roman enough to refuse to return unless he had to, but it had only gotten Patton more curious to their land counterparts.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he muttered, “it’s only two humans, anyway.”

Patton grinned and peaked above the water. “Come here, I think they’re coming back.”

 

Virgil sighed as he followed Abby down the sand dunes to the beach. Their back yard was literally a beach. It was almost too surreal.

“Do you think there are any monsters nearby?” Abby asked, her voice lowering.

Virgil looked around. There weren’t many people out today, maybe a few people here and there sunbathing, but for the most part, there wasn’t anyone around.  
“Nah,” Virgil said, catching up to her. “Monsters like to wait until night time to come out, so it’s harder to see them.”

“Hmmm but this is a new place,” Abby said. “Which means there’s a whole new breed of monsters around. We have to scope out the area.”

Virgil bit back a smile. Their parents were letting Abby watch way too many spy movies. “Lead the way Detective Abs.”

Abby giggled for a moment, then straightened and looked around. “There!” she pointed to a nearby set of rocks. “We’ll be able to see the whole beach from there!”

Virgil looked at the rocks and frowned. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea…”

“Come on Virgil, where’s your sense of adventure?” Abby asked before taking off towards the water. Virgil ran after her.

“Abby, that’s not safe!” Virgil called. Shit shit shit, if Abby got hurt his parents were going to kill him. Not to mention he’d never forgive himself.

“You’re such a worry wart!” Abby yelled back. She kicked off her sandals and started hoping on the rocks, Virgil not far behind her.

“Mom and Dad will not be happy if they see you out here, Abs,” Virgil said, hoping that maybe that would get her attention.

“They can join us then,” Abby said.

Sighing, Virgil did his best to follow Abby, but as the rocks started to get higher, it became harder. Abby was much smaller than Virgil was, so she was able to find more hand and footholds. Why were little girls so fast?

“Abby, get over here,” Virgil snapped, his anxiety starting to get high. He tried to push it down, at least until he had his little sister on the ground again. “Now.”  
Maybe hearing the panic in his voice, maybe turning so she could look at the beach, Abby faced him. At that moment, though, her foot caught on a hole in the rock and she lost her balance. To his horror, she fell back and right off of the rock.

“Abby!” Virgil screamed, jumping off the rocks, cursing as his ankle gave out under him. Ignoring the pain in his foot, he rushes around the rocks and into the water. He hadn’t realized how deep the water was right in front of the rocks.

No. No no no no. His little sister…she couldn’t even swim yet. He swam around, diving under water and looking around, but it was getting harder for him to breathe and focus. Every time he was above water, he screamed Abby’s name, as if that would help anything.

Then suddenly, someone grabbed onto his foot. Desperate, Virgil ducked under water and he saw Abby looking up at him with her big brown eyes. Virgil grabbed her wrist and yanked her up to the surface. She immediately started coughing, and Virgil pulled her into a tight hug. He felt something else brush his ankle, which he instinctively kicked at. His foot collided with something, but when he peered into the water, there was nothing there. Not wanting to find out what that had been, he paddled over to a rock and pulled them onto it. “Abby, are you okay? Come on Abigale, talk to me.”

Abby nodded and clutched onto Virgil, shaking. He held her tightly, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to calm himself down. For a while they just sat there, clutching onto each other. When they were both able to breathe a bit better, Virgil pulled away slightly to scan Abby for any injuries. “Are you alright? Really?” he asked.

“Y-Yes,” she said, her voice trembling. “I…Virgil, I hit my head,” her hand went to her temple, which was as clear as it had been earlier.

Still, though, Virgil examined it, running his thumb over it, but it was fine. “You’re not hurt,” he said, feeling relief flow through him. “You’re okay.”

Abby shook her head. “No, I hit my head, I know…I felt the pain.” She frowned, as if trying to remember. “There was a really sharp rock right under the ocean and my head hit it. I don’t remember what happened after that, but I woke up under water right by you.”

Virgil frowned. “Abby, I looked everywhere, I didn’t see you.”

Abby looked down at the ocean but, Virgil noticed, she kept a tight hold on Virgil.

Holding her close, Virgil stood. “Hey, that was pretty scary for both of us,” Virgil said gently, propping Abby on his hip. She wrapped her legs around him, clinging to him. “Let’s just go hang out on the beach until Mom and Dad are finished unloading the truck okay?”

Abby nodded, but she was still frowning. Virgil didn’t quite understand either, but then, she’d probably been scared and panicked. She’d probably had no idea what was going on. Still, though, Virgil got them out of there as fast as he could. He noticed, though, that his ankle didn’t hurt as much as it did before. He must have just imagined the pain in all of his panic.

 

“What were you thinking?” Roman asked as he and Patton swim far, far away from those rocks.

“What was I supposed to do, Roman, let her drown?” Patton asked.

Roman didn’t answer that, and Patton focused on what was ahead of them, going through everything that had just happened in his head.

He and Roman had been watching the humans, keeping out of the way especially when the little girl had run towards the very rock they were hiding behind. Both of them watched a bit nervously as she had climbed, wondering just why in the world her brother was letting her do this.

Then Abby had fallen, hitting her head as she went under.

Patton had acted immediately, rushing over to her and examining her wounds. There was a deep cut on her temple, blood floating around it, though it nearly blended in with her dark hair. The hit had knocked her out, and it was only a matter of time before she’d drown. Patton, pulling her away from the rocks for a moment as Virgil dove in, frantically shouting her name. He’d healed her and expelled all of the water out of her lungs, ensuring that she would wake up any moment. He then pushed her towards Virgil and then ducked away before he could be seen.

Roman had tried to pull him away then, panic written all over his face, but Patton hesitated. He looked back at the brother and sister. Virgil had pulled Abby up, and he could see Abby’s feet moving a little. He relaxed, glad to know that she was awake and breathing. Then his eyes had landed on Virgil’s foot, which he was using to stay afloat. It was bent at an odd angle, which Patton was sure wasn’t right.

Patton’s healing abilities told him that it was, indeed, injured. Shrugging Roman off, Patton slowly swam under Virgil, keeping close to the sea floor. He reached up and brushed his hand over the place where Virgil’s foot stopped and his leg began, the skin turning a normal color and the foot looking like it had before.  
He’d just barely been able to heal it all the way before Virgil had kicked him in the face.

Recoiling, Patton swam away as fast as he could, not even looking back to see if he’d been noticed. Roman had then grabbed Patton’s wrist and pulled him away as fast as possible. They were far enough away from the humans in a matter of seconds, Roman’s swimming abilities shining through and nearly taking Patton’s arm off. It was another few yards before Roman even let him go, and another few before he’d spoken.

Eventually, Patton slowed down. His heart was racing, both from what had just happened and from swimming so fast. He didn’t have nearly as much endurance as Roman did. Then again, Roman was the best swimmer Patton knew, and he could go on for hours without tiring.

“Patton, come on, we have to get back,” Roman sad, using his prince voice, as if that had ever worked on Patton.

“I need a moment,” Patton said, his voice small. He slowed to a stop, sinking down so he could rest on the floor.

Roman slowed and looked back at him. He joined Patton, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Patton shook his head. Everything was catching up to him, and he all he wanted was to curl up on the seafloor and let the currents flow over him.

Roman settled down next to him, a worried look on his face. “Hey, it’s alright,” he said gently. “We weren’t spotted. It’s okay.”

“That’s…that’s not it,” Patton said, shaking his head and staring down at his hands. “Roman, I could feel her life fading away. She…” Patton buried his head in his hands.

Roman put a strong arm around him, pulling him close. He was silent, letting Patton work through his feelings. “I know it’s not easy,” he murmured after a while. “Healing…it’s such a rare gift. I wish we knew more to avoid these moments.”

Patton just nodded along. He knew. He knew that his healing powers were few and far between. He was the only one in the entire Atlantic, which made him valuable. He suspected that was the real reason his family wanted him to stay so close to home all the time., but because it was so rare, none of them knew what the extent of it was.

“Is this the first time this has happened?” Roman asked.

Patton nodded again. 

“Then that’s just one more thing that we know,” Roman said, and squeezed his shoulder. “It will take some time to get used to, but at least you know now.”  
Patton closed his eyes and let’s himself drift a little. He felt the gills on his abdomen open and close as the water flowed through him. His tail relaxed and moved with the currents. When he opened his eyes, Roman was staring out in the distance.

“Come on,” Patton said, getting up. “We should go tell Father what happened.”


	2. Chapter 2

For the rest of the afternoon, Virgil kept Abby on the beach and away from the water, even after both of them had calmed down significantly. Abby had settled for playing in the sand and drawing pictures, and Virgil sat back and watched her, nodding and commenting appropriately whenever Abby finished a drawing and made him look at it. Otherwise he sat and stared at the ocean, trying his best to block out what had happened earlier from his mind.

Virgil was watching Abby draw something in the sand with a stick when she suddenly looked up and her eyebrows furrowed. “Who are you?”

Turning to see what she was talking about, Virgil saw a boy headed towards them. Virgil quickly got to his feet, frowning at the boy and stepping in front of Abby. He looked to be about Virgil’s age with light brown hair, black thick framed glasses, a black shirt that seemed to be covered in equations, khaki shorts, and black sandals. He had a serious yet curious expression on his face, and he stopped a few feet away from Virgil.

“Hello,” the boy said. “I assume that you are the new neighbors.”

Virgil just nodded. He felt small hands on his legs, which told him that Abby was currently hiding behind his legs. “Yeah. That’s us.”

The boy nodded, and looked at the house, then back at Virgil. “Well, then, my name is Logan Nelson.” He stuck his hand out, his arm straight.

“Uhh Virgil Price,” Virgil said, shaking his hand. He’d never met any teenagers who shook hands when they first met.

Logan nodded, then looked down, seeming to notice Abby for the first time. Something about his face changed and he smiled slightly, kneeling down. “And what is your name?” he asked, his voice gentle.

Glancing down, Virgil saw that Abby was peeking out behind his legs. He put a hand on her head to reassure her. The only time Abby was ever remotely shy was around new people, especially older kids. Adults she could be fine with—most of the time—and kids her age she never hesitated to talk to. But big kids? Nope. Too intimidating.

Abby looked up at Virgil, who nodded and patted head in reassurance. For Logan’s credit, he didn’t show impatience or annoyance. He just waited, smiling softly at Abby, waiting to see if she would talk at all.

“Um,” Abby shifted, looking down and playing with her fingers. “Abby.”

“A pretty name,” Logan said. “Is it short for something?”

She nodded. “Abigale.”

“Abigale,” Logan said. “Very nice. You know, the name Abigale is said to come from a wife of a king, and people back then associated the name with beauty and intelligence. It’s a very good name to have.”

Abby smiled shyly at that and Logan returned the smile before straightening. He looked at Virgil, then shrugged. “I make it a point to know about names,” he said in answer to Virgil’s raised eyebrows. “I find that it’s a good conversation starter.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Virgil said with a small shrug. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of any of this interaction, but he had to give Logan credit where credit was due. He got Abby to talk to him.

“Virgil! Abby!” their mother called. They all turn to look at her and Virgil saw her eyes light up at the sight of Logan. “Oh!” she exclaimed and came bounding out of the house. “Hello!”

Logan smiled. “Hello Mrs. Price, I’m Logan Nelson. I live a few houses down.” He stuck his hand out to her, one hand folded behind his back.

“Oh, please, call me Morgan,” Virgil’s mother said. “It’s lovely to meet you Logan. And I see you’ve already met my two children.” She smiled at Virgil and Abby, who was still lingering behind Virgil’s legs, watching Logan with big, wide eyes. “You wouldn’t happen to go to Carter High School, would you?”

Virgil wanted to groan. Of course she would do this, though if Virgil were being honest, he was a bit curious too.

“Yes, I do,” Logan said, and looks at Virgil. “Is that where you will be attending?”

“I guess?” Virgil said, looking at his mom. “I wasn’t really told anything about this move until it was convenient, apparently.”

His mother immediately gave him A Look that told him he was going to pay for that remark later. Then she turned and smiled at Logan. “Yes, that’s Virgil’s new school. It’ll be good to have someone who will be able to show him around.”

“Of course,” Logan said smoothly, as if the last few moments hadn’t happened. “I would be glad to show Virgil around, if you want me to,” Logan glanced at Virgil, who shrugs.

“Better than being lost.”

His mother glared at him again. She opened her mouth to say something else, but their father decided to join them then. “Morgan, can you come here for a moment? Oh hello!” he waved to Logan, who offered a small wave in return. “Who are you?”

“Honey this is Logan!” Morgan called. She looked at the other boy. “My husband, Martin. I’d better go see what he needs. You two,” she pointed to Virgil and Abby, “come inside when you’re done. We’ve just about got everything in the house, and I want you to go through all of the boxes in your rooms to make sure everything made the trip.”

“Sure Mom.”

Morgan nodded and then turns to walk back to the house. Abby, apparently seeing her chance to get away, ran after her. “Mommy!” she called. Turning, Morgan smiled and picked Abby up.

“Nice meeting you Logan!” she called back. “Maybe once we’re settled in you can bring your family over some time.”

“Please stop talking,” Virgil muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“They would be delighted, Mrs.—ah, Morgan,” Logan said.

Morgan gave a thumbs up and hiked back up the hill with Abby propped on her hip.

“Sorry about that,” Virgil muttered. “She gets a little enthusiastic.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Logan said. “Though I take it you’re not too happy about moving?”

Virgil shrugged, but he doesn’t elaborate. He wasn’t about to spill his life story to a boy he met only a few minutes ago. So, instead of answering, he changed the subject. “What were you even doing out here anyway?”

 

Letting him get away with it, Logan shrugged. “I always take afternoon or evening walks. It is good for the body. Plus, I admit, I was curious when the moving truck pulled in this morning. I’d heard my moms talking about this house being sold, so I wondered what the family would be like. When I noticed you and Abby sitting out here, I thought that this would be a good chance to introduce myself.”

Virgil nodded. “Well, it was good meeting you then. I’m going to go ahead and say sorry for “showing attitude” because my mom is probably going to make me apologize anyway, so now if she asks then you don’t have to lie.”

Logan smirked, humor lighting his eyes. “I appreciate that.” There was clear sarcasm in his voice, which made Virgil bite back a smile. At least the guy had a sense of humor.

“Virgil! Come on we need help putting together Abby’s drawing horse!” his father called from the house.

Virgil groaned, but he called, “Coming!” and turned back to Logan. “That thing is a pain in the ass.” He shook his head. “I’ve gotta go. Enjoy your walk.”  
“Goodbye Virgil,” Logan said, waving slightly as Virgil turned and jogged up to the house.

 

“My princes you have returned,” Echo said when Patton and Roman enter the palace. Patton gives her a smile as she and Meryl bowed, but a part of him couldn’t help but wonder if they did anything while Patton and Roman were away, or if they just waited for the brothers to return.

“My darling Meryl, it is always a pleasure to see you,” Roman said, smiling. Meryl, ever the patient mermaid, only bowed her head in response. Patton always had a level of respect for Echo and Meryl. They were Patton and Roman’s privet attendants. They saw to Patton and Roman’s every need and were never very far away when the princes were home. Patton knew, though, that putting up with Roman and himself was not an easy job. Not mention that Roman flirted with just about everyone.

“Is our father around?” Patton asked Echo and started towards the throne room. She matched his pace beside him.

“His Majesty has been in his study all day,” Echo said. “He has asked for minimal disturbances.”

“Think he’ll be annoyed if we pay him a visit?” Roman asked Patton.

Patton shrugged. “I think minimal disturbances means Delmar.”

Delmar was their fathers’ chief advisor, who, though loved by the family, could be a little bit of a nuisance when he was in a mood. With the mermaid disappearances lately and the strange silence from the Pacific, Delmar has been on a roll with his updates and suggestions about what to do. While it was King Bryon’s job to deal with all of this, Patton knew that he preferred to think about it all in silence, which Delmar just didn’t understand.

Patton and Roman swam up to their father’s study and Meryl knocked gently.

“Enter,” Byron called from inside.

Meryl opened the door. “Your Majesty, the princes are here to see you.”

“Let them in,” Byron said, and the two enter, smiling in greeting to their father, who grinned back. He stretches and swims over to them. “Thank you, Meryl, Echo,” he said, politely dismissing the two mermaids, who bowed and left the room.

“So,” Byron said, looking between the two. “Both of my sons have decided to visit me at the same time. Either you did something, or you just missed your ol papa.”

“A little bit of both,” Patton said, hugging his father, who chuckled and squeezed him tightly before letting go. “How has your day been?”

“Any news?” Roman asked.

Byron sighed and shook his head. “Boys, I just don’t know what to make of any of this. There’s been no traces of any of the missing merfolk, and the Pacific hasn’t responded to anyone. I just got a message back from the Arctic, and they say that they haven’t heard anything for weeks.”

Patton frowned, looking at the map carved into the wall. The Pacific was the largest kingdom, so silence from them was not only uncommon, but unsettling. It wasn’t just that they hadn’t heard anything from the royal family there, it’s that they haven’t heard anything from anyone on that side of the ocean. No merchants, no villagers, nothing.

“Have you sent messengers?” Roman asked.

“Just sent a few out today,” Byron said with a nod. He shook his head and puts a smile on his face. “So, what is it that you have to tell me. You hinted that something happened,” he said to Patton, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh, well,” Patton suddenly felt very embarrassed. “I was swimming with a pod of dolphins, you know, the ones who pass by here every day?”

His father’s eyes lit up. “I’ve heard they’ve had their babies! How are they doing?”

Patton could almost feel Roman’s need to roll his eyes, but Patton just smiled. “They all looked happy and healthy to me.”

Byron nodded, looking pleased. “Good, good, I’m glad. I’ll have to make sure to pay them a visit myself soon. Anyway, continue.”

“Well, it seemed that today the pod decided to go a little bit towards the human shore, and before you say anything!” Patton added quickly, seeing the frown that started to spread on his father’s face, “I didn’t notice! The babies were just too cute.”

Byron rolled his hand in a ‘continue’ motion, so Patton did. “Anyway, Roman found me there—”

“I’d just been looking for him,” Roman said, cutting Patton off.

“And I figured that since we were there, near my section, we’d check up on the lands. You know, just to make sure everything was going well,” Patton continued.  
“Patton, you know that’s not your job,” Byron said. He sounded exasperated, which Patton was used to at this point.

“I know!” Patton said quickly, “but we were there so I thought…”

“What happened?” Byron asked.

Patton told him about the new human family who’d moved into the empty house, then he and Roman told him about the little girl falling and hitting her head and everything that happened afterwards. Byron kept his face in a look of displeasure, a silent way of telling them that he didn’t approve of any of this. When Patton told him about feeling the girl’s life essence, his eyes widened.

“Is that it?” he asked. When both Roman and Patton nodded, he sighed. “I won’t even go into why getting so close to land was a bad idea right now. Patton, has this ever happened before?”

“No, Father,” Patton said.

“Not even with the soldiers?”

Patton shook his head.

Byron frowned and started pacing, his teal and light blue fins flicking slightly to propel him. “This is good to know. You should tell Erywan right away. Then I want you to inform Delmar of this new human family so they can be added to the records. You said that you got the names of the two children? Make sure you mention that. And Patton?”

Patton, who had been nodding along while letting his eyes wonder, snapped them back to his father. “Yes?”

“Try to avoid going near the human lands. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you this. Are you sure there isn’t any way that girl saw you?”

“I’m sure,” Patton said. “I made sure to let her go before she opened her eyes.”

Byron nodded. “Then you can go. Roman, come help me with some of this paper work.”

Patton glanced at his brother, who nodded. “Of course, Father.” He gave Patton a smile and wave before joining their father at his desk. Patton left with a small sigh. He knew that Roman would rather be out and about the kingdom, but he’d never, not in a million years, refuse their father. It was all part of his “king lessons” as Roman called them.

Shutting the door behind him, Patton started off towards the temple to visit Erywan, Echo following a beat behind him. He didn’t really feel like talking, which Echo seemed to sense, so she kept back and left him to his thoughts.

 

Virgil leaned against the wall in Abby’s new room, his sister running around and gushing about how excited she was to have her drawing horse back. Of course she’d be happy. She didn’t have to put it together.

Oh, well, at least it was over now. Virgil was ready to go collapse on the couch, but his father came over and clapped him on the shoulder.  
“Ready to see your room?” he asked.

“Oh yeah.” Virgil had honestly forgotten about his room. He’d been trying to hard to not think about this move at all, so he hadn’t even thought about what his new room would even look like.

His father grinned and nudged him towards the door. “Abby, honey, why don’t you start unpacking all of your toys and show them around their new room?” he said and looked over his shoulder.

“Great idea Daddy!” Abby exclaimed and pulled open a box that had “Abby’s Toys” written on it, along with each and every name of the toys that were in the box.  
Martin led him down the hall, away from the rest of the bedrooms. Virgil hadn’t even noticed that, that there were only two bedrooms and a bathroom in the hall.  
At the end of the hallway, there was a door that, when opened, led to a set of stairs. Virgil glanced at his father, who motioned for him to go first. Hesitantly, Virgil climbed the stairs, which entered into a huge room with all of his things in it.

For a moment, Virgil just stood there, shocked. His father came in and put a hands around his shoulders. “Your mother and I thought that, since you’re going to be seventeen soon, you should have a bit of a bigger space.”

“Bigger space?” Virgil asked. “Dad, this room is the entire size of downstairs.”

Martin chuckled. “That’s kinda the point Verge. Look, you’ve got your own bathroom and everything. It’s almost like your own little apartment.”

Virgil gulped. As cool as the room was—and it was very cool—he felt a little…freaked out? by his father’s comment. What was this, a way to tell him that he should learn to live on his own because he was going to be kicked out in two years? Was that it?

Shut up shut up shut up you ungreatful brat.

Virgil gave his dad a small smile. “This is actually really great. Thanks Dad.”

His dad chuckled. “You sound surprised.”

“Well,” Virgil looked around the room again, “I guess I didn’t think I’d get all of this.”

Martin smiled and moved further into the room. “That’s not all! Come here.”

Virgil followed him, mentally ticking off all the boxes to make sure everything was there. At least until he saw what was sitting against the wall.  
“A piano?” Virgil asked, shocked. His dad beamed at him and patted the top.

“Remember how you’ve been begging us for one of these for years? Well, now we have the space for one!”

It was almost too much. Virgil had been playing piano since he was little, his old elementary school music school offering discounted lessons that his parents had immediately taken advantage of. At first, Virgil had hated it, but he soon discovered that piano playing was something that helped him to calm down when his anxiety first started to make appearances. It’s something that he slowly fell in love with, and he’d been asking his parents for a proper piano since he was Abby’s age.

He supposed this was what came with his father opening a line of restaurants, and those restaurants being a huge hit. His family had more money than they knew what to do with now, which was one thing that prompted the move. At this point, though, Virgil just felt like they were trying to bribe him into not being mad about the move at all.

“It’s…wow, Dad, thanks,” Virgil said, really not knowing what to say now.

“It’s all a little much, I get it,” he says. “Take some time to unpack and get used to the new space alright?”

Virgil only nodded and his dad left, leaving Virgil alone in this, quite frankly, too big space.


End file.
